Manchester Digital Laboratory

t’s a space you can get together with like-minded individuals and work on your urban gardening, crochet, hacking, programming, media arts, filmmaking, animating project without worrying that you’re in a library, coffee shop, pub or other unsuitable venue. We know hackers and craftspeople need work space and may need to get down and dirty – we also know sometimes you need a quiet area to present and show works to your peers. We support both activities. And we hope there will be a rich mix of individuals who’ll get out of the usual zones, the knitter talking to the software architect, the cupcake maker scheming with the laser etching builder. We know some good will come of this.

We also run the Omniversity of Manchester, a programme of professional training courses, led by some of the sharpest minds and most cutting-edge practitioners around. Rather than roll out the same-old, last year’s practice, full-time trainers, we’ve reached out to our network to bring recognised experts in their field to teach hands-on skills in affordable workshops. These aren’t just interchangeable tutors delivering the same courses; these are the people who started the projects they are teaching, who use these skills professionally on a daily basis.